What an amazing little film. It may be called "American Movie", but it really should have been called "American Dream". A small documentary about a filmmaker who simply wants to make a film, we're introduced to director Mark Borchardt, who wants nothing more to do in his life than to make movies. He goes after this dream with almost psychotic intensity, and this documentary takes a look at Mark trying to put together his dream film, "Northwestern".

The audience may tend to look at this man from Wisconsin as a bit of a loser, making micro-budgeted films with friends and associates at the age of 30. When you look at the intensity that he takes on this quest though, I have to admire the guy. He sits in production meetings for the movie and acts out scenes and discusses his vision with an unbelivable amount of energy.

The trials he has to deal with are many that other low-budget filmmakers have had to deal with - there's not enough money, he owes a ton of money, can't find a cast, and production money runs short. There's even more than that in "American Movie"; he constantly looks to his 82 year old uncle for additional cash; his friend and composer is Mike Schank, who looks consistently drunk. When "Northwestern" doesn't work out, he decides to go after his other feature, "Coven" and finish that instead - any profits will go towards the making of "Northwestern".

Even though it gets a little long at times, "American Movie" never fails to be engaging when Borchardt is on-screen cause he's such a wild character, running this way and that to try to make his dream come true.